Revolutionary days - May 1968, a personal memoir Alan Woods went to Paris in May 1968 seeking contact with revolutionary workers and youth. He describes here what he encountered, the mood, and the discussions with workers and students. He explains how the workers were looking for leadership but never found it, neither in the ultra-left groups, nor in the Stalinist leadership that betrayed them.
The French Revolution of May 1968 May 1968 was the greatest revolutionary general strike in history. This mighty movement took place at the height of the post-war economic upswing in capitalism. Then, as now, the bourgeois and their apologists were congratulating themselves that revolutions and class struggle were things of the past. Then came the French events of 1968, which seemed to drop like a thunderbolt from a clear blue sky. They took most of the Left completely by surprise, because, they had all written off the European working class as a revolutionary force.
French Marxists boost Communist vote in local elections Last Sunday's first round in the French local elections confirmed a widespread shift to the left, with Sarkozy losing significant support. The Socialist Party did well, as did forces that stand to its left. Here we wish to highlight the Marxist candidates standing for the PCF in the area around Toulouse, who significantly boosted the party's vote.
France: Rogue traders How do you lose £3.7 billion? Down the back of the sofa? Meet Jérôme Kerviel. He lost £3.7 billion of his employer’s money, Société Générale, a French bank. Is it actually a good argument for capitalism that the whole world can be screwed up because of a solitary rogue trader? Is the system really so precarious that one crook can send world financial markets into freefall?
France: Attacks on pensions: a decisive battle Sarkozy is consciously provoking some of the big battalions of the French labour movement. His strategy is clear: take on the strong sections of the class and, counting on the weak trade union leaders, smash them in order to prepare the ground for an all-out attack on the rest of the class. The stakes are high. With a bold, militant leadership the workers could win.
France – Legislative elections mark the end of the honeymoon period The legislative elections in France, despite giving a clear majority to the right, also marked the electoral recovery of the left. French society is increasingly divided, and the divisions in parliament will be reflected on the streets one way or another.
French Presidential Elections: Royal and the Socialist leadership hand victory to Sarkozy The main reason why Sarkozy won the French elections is to be found in the policy of the Socialist Party. Ségolène Royal’s party proposed nothing whatsoever which would make a significant difference to the living standards of working people.
Defeat of French socialists: move towards centre ends in disaster For the third consecutive time, the left has lost the presidential elections in France. Their programme did not have one single measure to seriously improve the lot of the victims of capitalism, through which they could have been enthused. This is the editorial of this month’s Marxist paper La Riposte.
French Presidential elections: “reformism without reforms” gives advantage to Sarkozy Greg Oxley analyses the first round of the presidential elections in France, and explains the reasons for the generally poorer performance of the left candidates.
Young Marxists take the leadership of the Haute-Garonne federation of the French Young Communist (MJCF) movement The Haute-Garonne federation of the French Young Communists (MJCF - the youth section of the French Communist Party - PCF) elected an entirely new leadership at the end of November. At its federal congress in Toulouse, an overwhelming majority of delegates elected supporters of the Marxist journal La Riposteto lead the federation.
Capitalists fear armed Paris workers Today, 62 years ago, Paris was liberated from the Nazis in a mass movement from below. "It has been this mass movement of the French workers, peasants and middle class which has forced the retreat of the German army. The culminating point, which has marked the entry of the French masses once again onto the arena of history, was the insurrection of the workers of Paris." We republish Ted Grant's article from 1944, analysing these significant events.
The end of the CPE : an important victory for youth and workers of France The withdrawal of the CPE is a humiliating defeat for Chirac and the de Villepin government. They came out of this ordeal completely discredited. After the struggle against pension reforms in 2003, against the referendum on the European Constitution, and the revolt of the estates in November last year, the massive mobilisation of youth and workers against the CPE constitutes new evidence that France has entered an era of great social and political instability.
Solidarity picket with French students and workers in front of the French embassy in Madrid Representatives of the Sindicato de Estudiantes (Students' Union) and the Marxist tendency El Militante, together with several trade unionists, gathered in front of the French embassy in Madrid last week to express their rejection of the serious attack of the Chirac-Villepin-Sarkozy government, which is attempting to impose the CPE on the French youth and workers. See also the Spanish version.
France: A week of struggle in Toulouse We publish this report on the week of anti-CPE activities in Toulouse. The report explains the methods of the students and workers in their struggle and highlights the need for decisive action on the part of the trade unions to guarantee victory.
Interview with Stephen Bouquin on the movement in France The In Defence of Marxism website interviewed Stephen Bouquin, professor of sociology at Amiens university and member of the SNES-Sup union (Syndicat National des Enseignements de Second degré) about the recent events in France.
